Gurrola improving throughout the spring

Cody James Martin

04/15/2014

Steven Gurrola just finished his final Spring Camp of his college career. Read on to find out how he improved, which of his teammates stand out the most, and more.

Heading into his second season with the Arizona Wildcats, Steven Gurrola has worked hard throughout the spring. He started at center for the Wildcats a season ago, but still had plenty to work on heading into training camp in the offseason.

"I'm much more comfortable now," Gurrola said. "Not necessarily meaning that I didn't know the plays or anything, but now I am bigger, faster, and stronger than I was last year and my body feels more comfortable."

Gurrola knows that Rich Rodriguez has been tough on the offensive line at times, but it is only for their benefit.

"Without the offensive line, we don't have an offense," he said. "Coach is just pushing us to be better and that's what we all want as a team. We just want to be the best that we can be as a unit."

The senior know that the major difference from year to year was the health of the team. With less injuries this offseason, there weren't as many reps to go around, but there was still plenty of learning.

"We are much healthier this season than we were last year," Gurrola said. "Obviously, it limits the reps that we can take because some guys got hurt, but it's good to have some more depth and it is good to have a few extra bodies out there."

Some of the younger faces for the Wildcats have stepped up throughout the last few weeks and it is starting to get noticed. The center believes that two of his fellow linemen have improved greatly over the course of the camp.

"Cayman Bundage has stepped up a lot in the huddle," Gurrola said. "He's more confident than he was last year. He's talking a lot more.

"Our other guard, Jacob Alsadek, has really learned the offense and started to step up in our practices. He's really getting it."

In addition to players improving, the bond between the linemen is also improving as they continue to develop relationships with each other.

"Our chemistry is there and we have a better feel for each other," Gurrola said. "We are reading defenses better and have a better feel for our schemes and everything. It just comes a little bit quicker now."

Even though Gurrola is just a lineman, he still has quite a bit at stake when it comes to which quarterback leads the team on the field in the fall. He has to adjust to each signal caller and it isn't always easy.

"Having different quarterbacks is a bit of a challenge sometimes," Gurrola said. "Everybody is tall or short. We have different sized guys. They all have different cadences, too. It's an adjustment for every different guy we have back there. "

Gurrola doesn't have a favorite among the quarterbacks and doesn't even get a chance to see how well they do for the majority of his time on the field.

"I can't say which quarterback stands out the most," he said. "He's behind me most of the time and I'm just worried about blocking for whoever is back there. You guys saw some it during the scrimmage."